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The following are some of the richest people in the cryptocurrency industry based on a list that has been released by Forbes. While others consider cryptocurrencies in a bubble others are significantly gaining and accumulating wealth from the cryptocurrencies. However, this data must be treated with skeptism because crypto markets are not like stock markets where everyone discloses their holdings. Some of the owners of the cryptocurrencies are unknown and would want to remain unknown despite them holding significant amount of cryptocurrencies. Therefore this lists includes people who have publicly stated their crypto holdings hence their crypto wealth can be verified.

1. Chris Larsen, Co-founder of Ripple: $7.5 to $8 billion

Chris Lasen

2. Joseph Lubin, Co-founder of Ethereum: $1 billion to $1.5 billion

Joseph Lubin

3. Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance: $1.1 billion to $2 billion

Changpeng Zhao

4. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Co-founders of Gemini: $900 million to $1.1 billion

Scrinium is a blockchain based portfolio investment platform that utilises the concept of smart contracts. In the scrinium platform the token that is used is the scrinium coin and it will be used to reward the traders and investors. The token aims at solving three major problems that are encountered by portfolio investors and traders.

Major problems solved by Scrinium

The first challenge is that the amount of knowledge and skills needed to succeed in portfolio trading. Portfolio trading is a very advanced skill that takes years to horn. This means that there exists few and limited number of successful portfolio traders because it is very difficult for ordinary traders to keep up with the changes in the technology and skills required in portfolio trading.

Portfolio investors have embraced copy trading as one of the best ways in which they can mitigate their losses by copying traders who consistently make profits. However, this copy trading does not guarantee profits and portfolio investors still lose a lot of money when the trader they have copied loses or enters a losing streak.

The third problem is the brokerage fees that are charged the investors and traders. These trading fees and spreads end up halving significant profits that are incurred by the traders and the investors.

Scrinium is seeking to solve these challenges by consistently proving a block chain based method in which the best traders in the globe can be identified irrespective of the platform and brokerages which they use to trade. The platforms allocates portfolio to those traders and ensures that they are consistently monitored to close trade in case they enter losing streak. This ensures that losses are minimised and profits maximised. The trading fee is minimised or eliminated when trading and investing on the scrinium platform.

The team that is behind scrinium includes Sebastian Forbes who is the fiancé director of the team. It also includes George Pantizis who is a trading and dealing expert, Alexy Taygin who is systems architect, Ivan Savinov, Tatiana Shabanova, Dina Ennab, Christina Contantinides, Demetris Christou, and Olga Vasilyeva.

The following is a list of the upcoming ICO (Initial Coin Offering) that are expected in 2018.

Telegram ICO. Telegram is a well known non profit messaging app. The Telegram team is intending to create TON (Telegram Open Network) which will be a block chain technology that will host other crypto currencies and allow transfer of value among users. Telegram intends to build a VISA/Mastercard like applications on the platform. Thttps://techcrunch.com/2018/01/08/telegram-open-network/he date and the start of the ICO is yet to be determined because Telegram is yet to release an official statement which makes the ICO to be a speculation.

Pavel Durov The Founder of Telegram

2. Social Media Market ICO. Social Media Market ICO intends to create a platform for the advertisers and influences. Currently there exists a disconnect between the influencers and advertisers. Even though companies spend millions to advertise on social media, consumers tend to listen to influencers more than the brand. The social media marketing platform will connect influencers in various fields with advertisers. The influencers will be paid by the advertisers using the social media token (SMT). Social Media Tokens (SMTs) are going to be issued as ERC20 compatible tokens. They will be based on total amount of tokens, 15% more tokens will be issued for platform core functionality and team (6 month of vesting period) and 5% for partners and advisors.

3. Healthureum Token ICO. This is a token of its kind that combines blockchain technology and healthcare. Healthureum platform is intended to be an Ethereum based blockchain using smart contract expertise to considerably improve effectiveness of healthcare services. The Healthureum token is abbreviated HHEM and is expected to be utilised as the transactional intermediary of choice for the new and forthcoming healthcare platform. The network will assist in payment for the services provided utilising the HHEM token. It will also act as a an intermediary for rewarding and compensating medical practitioners who will be offering referrals and expert opinions on Healthureum platform. The platform will host laboratories and clinics that will carry out lab tests and diagnostics for patients. These labs will also be rewarded using HHM token and tests for Healthureum patients will be rewarded with HHEM tokens.

4. Scrinium ICO. Scrinium ICO is a token offering for a decentralised portfolio investment technology. It is hinged on analysing the performance of large number of traders all over the world and identifying the most profitable and content traders. The system will then develop and investment portfolio that is suitable for every investor depending with the risk appetite of the investor and expected returns.

However, today the US Senate hearing on cryptocurrencies has restored confidence in the crypto currencies. Jay Clayton who is the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), intimated that, “We may be back with our friends from Treasury and the Fed to ask for additional legislation.” He further added that they are working to develop regulations that will be friendly to the adoption of crypto currencies and blockchain technology in the country.

Jay Clayton the 32nd Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission

In addition, the chairman of Commodities Futures Trading Commission Christopher Giancario told the US Senate that “We must crack down hard on those who abuse our young enthusiasm for bitcoin and blockchain technology,” he said to the congress. “We owe it to this new generation, to respect their interest in this new technology with a thoughtful regulatory approach,” he explained. He pointed out that his realisation is as a result of talking with his own kids who he noted were no longer interested in the stocks but were very hooked into the cryptocurrencies. He held that with appropriate regulations that would help in weeding out scammers and terrorists, adoption and success of crypto currencies would also lead to the success of USA.

This positive sentiment by the US Senate amid crackdown on exchanges and crypto currencies in Asian countries has helped to boost waning confidence in the crypto currency market. Shortly after the announcement during the US Senate hearing, the value of crypto currencies in the coin market cap increased to $380 billion compared to 280 billion on 6th February 2018.

Once in a while cryptobizglobal.com posts threads of crypto figureheads/celebrities to keep crypto enthusiasts informed. Last month we features a twitter thread of Ari Paul. This month we feature Twitter thread of Charlie Shrem who is a respected voice in bitcoin and in crypto currencies. Here is the full thread:

Charlie Shrem’s Twitter thread

Bitcoin and other privacy focused crypto currencies are the biggest innovation of my lifetime.

Just like the printing press removed the power of information and knowledge from the church and governments, crypto currencies are the biggest tool to individual liberty we have.

The past year we’ve seen a dilution of our beautiful technology. From “permissioned blockchains” to “digital ledger technology”, these are nothing more than glorified google spreadsheets.

If it can be controlled by 1 party, it is not a blockchain. If it is not fully censorship resistant it is not a blockchain. Don’t be fooled by bullshit pump and dumps and by people trying to convince you. REMEMBER why we are here.

Of course governments are going to do the same. What did you think? They would roll over while we built our alternative financial system and people started using it? Governments don’t like competition.

They are smart. Instead of banning #Bitcoin outright they are saying “The government…will take all measures to eliminate use of these crypto-assets [BUT] will explore use of blockchain technology proactively for ushering in digital economy.”

We will see in 2018 a systemic push for regulated and controlled blockchains by “DLT” companies, banking consortiums and governments. THESE ARE NOT CRYPTOCURRENCIES. Do not be fooled!

I came to help build technology that gives us freedom and I will not stop until I’ve reached my goal. I’ve already had my freedom taken from me once and I never want to see that happen to anyone.

Charlie Shrem is the founder of defunct BitIstant. He is also a founding member of the bitcoin Foundation. He was arrested and imprisoned on allegations of helping Silk Road users launder money. He has since been released from prison and he cofounded Intellisys Capital.

The crypto currency traders in South Korea will no longer be trading anonymously. The government has banned all anonymous crypto currency trading. During last week major crypto currency exchanges in South Korea such as Korbit and Bithumb indicated that they will no longer be accepting anonymous traders on their exchanges. Korbit exchange specifically indicated that non Korean users will not be allowed to deposit Korean Won (KRW) at any crypto currency exchange in Korea. This is intended to make the exchange compliant with the anti money laundering laws and know your customer requirements regulations that are being enforced by Korean government.

The largest bank in South Korea, Kookmin Bank has also stopped providing virtual bank accounts to crypto currency exchanges. Traders in South Korea usually have virtual bank accounts which they use to withdrawal their Korean won from crypto currency exchanges before withdrawing to their own actual bank accounts. Despite this more banks have started to support cryptocurrencies by allowing exchanges to have local bank accounts.

The South Korean justice minister Park Sang-gi, has received a lot of criticism for issuing a statement in December indicating the country’s intention to regulate cryptocurrencies. The statement was taken to imply that South Korea was going to ban cryptocurrencies which led to decline in the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The regulations have been welcomed by some people while others have indicated that over regulation is likely to hamper the growth of cryptocurrencies in the country.

Park Sang-gi, Justice Minister

In addition, the KYC and AML regulations it is expected that the exchanges will be sending inflation to the tax authorities concerning crypto currency trades that exceed unspecified amounts. It is expected that more comprehensive regulations on taxation of crypto currencies in South Korea will be released for implementation before the end of this year. South Korea is one of the major crypto currency markets in Asia and most of the people in the country have small explore to crypto assets. The regulations are expected to legitimise crypto assets in the country.

According to sources that are familiar with the matter, subpoenas were delivered on 6th January 2018. There is increased suspicion about USD Tethers (USDT) cryptocurrrency which is suspected not to be pegged on USD dollars. The current market capitalisation of USDT Tether is over $2billion. However, there is suspicion that Tether does not have the $2 billion in their bank accounts.

The company has refused to have its accounts audited and it has terminated its contract with Friedman who was their auditors. It is suspected that the company’s books are suspicious and could reveal that tethers are not backed by equivalent number of dollars. Users believe that one tether is equal to 1usd.

However, lack of transparency and audit has generated a lot of suspicions that the company could be engaged in illegalities. The company has refused to disclose its banks since Well Fargo terminated its banking agreements in 2016. The company also does not accept deposits from United States residents which deepens suspicions about its practices.

Both Bitfinex and Tether have the same Chief executive officer who is Ludovicus van der Velde. Some people argue that this could be the reason why the price of bitcoin has tanked in the recent pasts since the rise could have been manipulated by fake tethers. However, others argue that the value of tethers in the cryptocurrency market is insignificant since the crypto currency market has a market capitalisation of over 500 billion hence cannot be affected by tethers even if all tethers were proved to be fake. The chief executive of Tether has however indicated that the company routinely updates regulators about their operations but he noted that the company had a non disclosure agreement which meant that they could not reveal the details of their banks to the public until the full audit is done.

Facebook has indicated that it is going to ban all advertisements that are related to cryptocurrencies. This is as a result of increased misleading advertisements that are being fronted by scammers on Facebook. To promote the integrity of its brand, Facebook is going to stop all cryptocurrency related advertisements.

Facebook new policy banning crypto currency ads

The move is targeting Initial Coin Offerings that are frequently promoted on Facebook. The company has indicated that such adverts will no longer be promoted on facebook because they are usually misleading and deceptive. This is a big win for crypto community as it will weed out scammers who promote Initial Coin Offerings promising high returns and free tokens to buyers.

Most of the existing ICOs and cryptocurrencies which are listed on the coin market capital are all scams with no existing product or utility. These ICOs target new and misinformed crypto enthusiasts who are seeking to make quick returns. One of the latest scams is Bitconnect which reached an all time high of $463 and a market valuation of $2.5 billion. The token which was promoted on facebook promised to pay dividends to users who introduced new members. Bitconnect is an example of crypto ponzi scheme and a misleading advert that Facebook is trying to prevent.

Since most of the ICOs have no valuable or ready product, their adverts are usually misleading because they have nothing to back them up or to determine their value. Most of the cryptocurrencies have no utility and all they do is keep buyers hoping that the price will go up or a greater fool will buy the token or cryptocurrency at a higher price.

The large number of scammers in the crypto community is the reason why Facebook has disengaged from proving a platform for scammers to propagate their scam by banning all crypto related advertisements. Despite the crypto currency community being infiltrated by scammers, blockchain technology which is behind cryptocurrencies is a revolutionary technology that holds are lot of benefits to the world.

The chief executive officer of Kenya Commercial Bank Joshua Oigara has indicated that Kenya will be ready for cryptocurrencies in the next three years. Oigara said that Kenya cannot escape the wave of cryptocurrencies that sweeping countries. He specifically indicated that blockchain technology which was behind the bitcoin was revolutionary. The blockchain technology is the decentralised ledger that relies on cryptography to ensure that the ledger entries cannot be duplicated.

Oigara however warned Kenyans that investing in bitcoin expecting overnight returns as fallacious because as it was not a get rich quick scheme and there was no shortcut to making overnight returns. He echoed the same sentiments of the Central Bank of Kenya governor Dr Patrick Njoroge who had indicated that bitcoin was a ponzi scheme. The central bank of Kenya governor indicated that Kenya was not yet ready for cryptocurrencies because there was no clear ways in which the bank would regulate the players in the cryptocurrency sector in Kenya. Oigara thinks that despite the conservative tone echoed by the Central Banks of Kenya, many other central banks will be deepening conversation about blockchain technology and how it can be applied to manage transactions in banks and central banks.

The chief executive officer indicated he is certain that within the next three years, the banks will have found ways of utilising blockchain technology which will culminate to the adoption of cryptocurrencies in Kenya. Oigara is the chief executive of the largest bank in Kenya in terms of asset. His sentiments are expected to fan a lot of interest in cryptocurrencies among curious Kenyan who want to invest in the cryptocurrencies in Kenya.

Zebpay exchange has listed litecoin on its exchange. Zebpay announced on 25th January 2018 that it has added support for litecoin and that now litecoin users and trader can now buy sell, receive litecoin on their Zebpay wallet. Litecoin is a decentralised peer to peer cryptocurrency that does not have central authority. Litecoin uniqueness is based on fast and cheap transactions compared with bitcoin and ethereum. Therefore addition of Litecoin to Zebpay wallet app implies that users will have an opportunity to send and receive funds very fast using litecoin. The inclusion of litecoin contributes immensely to the global adoption of litecoin as a peer to peer currency for fast payments across the globe.

Zebpay is an app enabled wallet which features cryptocurrencies bitcoin, ethereum and bitcoin cash. The wallet provider is headquartered in Singapore and has an office in India. The company was established by Mahon Gupta in the year 2012 and it served as India’s first bitcoin exchange. The company was branded as Zebpay in 2014 after addition of two more partners to the company. The partners were Saurabh Agrawal and Sandeep Goenka. The most unique thing about Zebpay is that users can buy and sell bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies such as litecoin and they can also spend the litecoin by using a mobile based PIN number. This helps in the adoption and use of cryptocurrencies in India. It is for this reason that Zebpay was voted as the best new bitcoin exchange in 2014 during a bitcoin conference in Las Vegas. This enables users to use bitcoin or litecoin to make purchases from stores that accept litecoin. Zebpay has over 250000 users in India making one of the largest exchanges in India. In addition, the company has released a 2.0 version of Zebpay app which makes it possible for users to spend other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum using the app.

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Crypto Biz Global is the leading crypto information website for the frontier markets. Cryto Biz Global provides timely and unique and valuable information concerning select crypto currencies currently being used in the globe. Our mission is to bridge the information gap that exists between blockchain ecosystems in the developed markets and block chain ecosystems in the frontier markets.

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About This Site

Crypto Biz Global is the leading crypto information website for the frontier markets. Cryto Biz Global provides timely and unique and valuable information concerning select crypto currencies currently being used in the globe. Our mission is to bridge the information gap that exists between blockchain ecosystems in the developed markets and block chain ecosystems in the frontier markets.

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Samuel Mwangi

I am a crypto enthusiast. A bitcoin trader and consultant in the frontier markets. I also Write and Rewrite. When not writing or rewriting, I read and do some gardening. Author of So You Want to Get Into Courtship?. Practical and Mystical.